Countercurrent condenser



$25 Wya Feb. 21, 1939. A. w. BAUMANN COUNTERCUHRENT CoNDENsER Filed Alig. 14, 1937 Patented Feb. 21, 1939 I I a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COUNTERCUBBENT CONDENSER Arnold W. Baumann, Chicago, Ill. Application August 14, 1937, Serial No. 159,064;

6 Claims. (01. 261-408) This invention relates to condensers of the sible gases so as to reduce their volume to a minicounter-current type, in which the vapor to be mum, whereby they may be handled by a relacondensed is passed in direct contact with the ively Sm ll uc n pp r cooling fluid, and its object is to increase the The downward flow or water from the inlet efficiency of such apparatus by various changes pipe 3 to its discharge from the lower edge of 5 in the parts and in their relative arrangement, the cone 9 is pra t ca y un p 50 that in without adding materially to the cost of manuits fall from the cone 5 through the space I! and facture. It consists oi. certain features and eleonto the deflecting surface of the member 1, and ments of construction herein shown and de-- again in traversing the space l3 between member 10 scribed, asindicated by the claims. I and the lower cone 8, it forms a curtain of 10 The drawing illustrates acondenser embodying spray through which the incoming vapor from this invention, showing the structure in vertical the inlet 2 must pass in its upward course through section, taken substantially along the axis of the the shell I and by which a considerable portion cylindrical shell. of this vapor will be condensed and picked up The main body or shell I of the condenser unit for discharge with the cooling water at the out- 15 is shown as of substantially cylindrical form, let II. The air and non-condensible gases, to,- mounted with its axis vertical, and provided with gether with any vapor which remains uncona lateral inlet connection 2, through' which the densed after passing through the water flow at vapors to be condensed are introduced into the l3, and then at l2, travel upwardly. under the lower portion of the shell I. Apparatus of this u dance of a conical baflle H, which trends in- 20 type is adapted for use in connection with a milk wardly at substantially the same angle as the evaporating plant, and such use will be assumed spreader cone 5. This directs the vapor and in connection with the following description, gases into contact with the water flowing downthough it may be understood that the apparatus wardly over the spreader 5 whereby the vapor is equally well adapted to various other processes. is condensed and the air and gases are cooled, At the upper end of the shell I there is shown so that their volume is reduced in this portion the water inlet pipe 3 having asli ghtly flared of their upward travel. terminal 4 within the shell; through this ter- A short distance above the upper edge l5 of minal the cooling water is released onto a conithe baflie I4 I provide a second bailie it, which cal spreader 5 over which it flows for discharge is shown as a substantially flat, circular disk 30 outwardly and-downwardly from the lower edge carried by the flaring portion 4 of the water 7 6 of the cone 5. Spaced below said edge of the inlet pipe 3. Above the shell I an outlet conduit spreader 5 is'an oppositely inclined conical mem- I1 is connected to the source of suction, not her I which receives the water falling from the shown,'and communicates with the interior of cone 5 and directs it convergently toward the the shell I by way of a centrally mounted cylin-. 5 V

' axis of the shell I. The member I is a truncated drical dome it, which is co-axial with the shell I. cone, so that the water is discharged downwardly As shown, the water inlet pipe 3 is axially mountand inwardly from its lower annular edge 8 onto ed within the dome l8, so that thelatter aflords a second conical-spreader 9 spaced below the an annular exhaust passage leading from the 40 discharge edge of the member I. This again top of the shell and symmetrically located with directs the flow outwardly and downwardly for respect to the baiiies l4 and I 6 which control final discharge into the lower portion of the shell the flow of air and non-condensible gases toward Lwhich includes a tapering terminal l0 leading the annular space I9 within the dome' l8. The to a flanged outlet connection I l. partial vacuum thus produced within the upper It may be understood that the interior of the portion of the shell I will draw air and other 45 shell I is subjected to a suction or partial vacuum gases laterallyalong the under side of the baifle produced by a vacuum pump, or equivalent appei6 and thence upwardly around its outer edge ratus, not shown, and acting through an exhaust into the dome IS. The gases, upon escaping past port located in the top of the shell. The vapors the edge I5 of the baflie II, are thus released into so resulting from the evaporating process, and entera relatively large space 25 in the upper portion ing the shell at the inlet 2 are mixed with a conof the shell I. This results in a considerable reslderable amount of air and some non-condenduction of velocity in this larger space, afiording sible gases; and it is the function of the conan opportunity for precipitation of any water denser to transform the vapor into liquid, and, which may have been picked up and entrained at the same time, cool the air andnon-condenin the gases during their counter-current flow upwardly in the condenser, and particularly between the spreader 5 and the baiiie ll. Any water thus precipitated in the space 25 will tend to accumulate on the outer face of the baffle l4. and then flow downwardly by gravity into the angular channel formed between the lower edge of the baiiie I 4 and the cylindrical wall of the shell I; therefore, drain ports 2| may be provided in this lower edge of the baille l4 to release. such liquid into the lower portion of the condenser shell for discharge at the outlet II.

By virtue of the counter-current principle, the coldest water in the condenser is that which enters through the pipe 3; hence, it will be quite elective in chilling the annular space it between the wall of the dome I8 and the water inlet pipe I, with the result that a ilnal cooling of the air and non-condensible gases will take place in this space.- To even further increase the efliciency at this point, the inlet pipe 3 may be provided with radially projecting fins 20 for absorbing heat from the gases and transferring it to the cooling water. Thus the volume of the air and other non-condensible gases drawn off through the outlet i1 is reduced to a minimum so as to require such an apparatus of relatively small volumetric capacity. An outstanding feature of this invention is the central or axial location of the exhaust dome I8 with respect to the cylindrical shell I and the symmetrical relation 01' the exhaust passage to the baiiies which control the flow of vapor and gases upwardly to this outlet. This centralized location of the exhaust port results in an evenly effective suction at all sides of the axis of the shell I, thus tending to utilize all parts of the passages to their full capacity, and disposing of a large quantity of vapor and other gases thoroughly and expe ditiously. The arrangement of bailles and spreaders within the cylindrical shell i provides ior directing the vapor and gaseous flow over the water surface in counter-current relation, and actually requires the vapor to pass through screens or curtains'oi water at certain points, thus insuring condensation of the vapor and cooling'of the gases; but the high efiiciency of the apparatus is realized by virtue of the centralized location of the exhaust port in the dome it. As seen .in the drawing, the vacuum connection at I! is aflorded by a pipe 22, which enters the dome It at one side; the inner end of the pipe 22 is cut oil obliquely at 23, and this portion protrudes into the duct so that the longer side of the pipe 24 is exposed downwardly and extends to the axially disposed water inlet pipet. This arrangement tends to equalize the suction effect. at all sides of the dome, while the central location of the latter insures equal distribution of the suction throughout the upper portion 01' the shell I.

As shown in the drawing, the lower spreader cone 5 is connected to the upper, cone E-by vertically extending bars 26, and these bars are connected to the truncated conical member l by.

clips 21. Preferably, these clips terminate in the small bailies 28 upstanding from the inner" surface of the member i and serving to deflect I wardly through the water, and serves to equalize the pressure as between the upper and lower parts of the condenser shell I. And to prevent duly deflecting the incoming stream of vapor at the inlet 2, the inlet connection includes a hood 30 protruded into the shell I, substantially to the central axis, so that the vapor emerges from under this hood, inside the cylindrical envelope of water falling through the lower portion of the condenser. While there is shown and described herein certain speciflc structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to. those skilled in the art that various modifications and. rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the same is not'limited to the particular form herein shown and described, except in so far as indicated by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A counter-current condenser including an upright cylindrical chamber with an inlet for vapor in a lower part, and an axially disposed exhaust conduit opening into the top of said chamber, together with a suction pipe connected lat-- erally into said exhaust conduit and having the under side of its terminal portion extending into the conduit to a point adjacent its axis to effect a uniform suction throughout the conduit.

2. A counter-current condenser including an, upright cylindrical chamber with an inlet for vapor in a lower part, an axially disposed exhaust dome at the top of 'said chamber with an axially located inlet pipe for cooling fluid extending vertically through said dome and into the top of the chamber, whereby the exhaust passage is rendered annular in cross-section, and an exhaust conduitof tubular'forrn entering the dome at one side, said tube terminating inside the dome in an opening in a plane oblique to the axis of the tube with the longer portion of the tubing wall disposed toward the chamber and protruding into the dome substantially to the water inlet pipe to sheet uniform suction throughout the annular exhaust passage of the dome.

3. In a counter-current condenser including an upright cylindrical chamber with an inlet for vapor in the lower part and a centrally disposed exhaust port in the top of said chamber, an inlet conduit admitting cooling fluid through the up per part of the chamber, and means guiding the fluid discharged irom said conduit downwardly in counter current relation to the vapor, baille means directing the flow of vapor and accompanying air and non-condensible gases upwardly in the chamber, said means including a truncated conical baflie extending upwardly and inwardly from the cylindrical wall of .the chamber and disposed to release the air and other gases from its upper edge into a relatively large space surrounding the cooling fiuid conduit in the top portion of the chamber for retarding their flow, said cooling fluid in the conduit serving to chill said air and gases and precipitate entrained liquid. therefrom, and said conical bafiie'serving to collect the liquid precipitated in said topportion of the chamber, and having a drain port adjacent the wall oi the chamber for releasing the liquid into the downwardly flowing current of liquid in a lower portion of said chamber.

4. In a counter-current condenser including an upright cylindrical chamber with an inlet for vapor in the lower part and an exhaust port in the top'of said chamber, an inlet conduit extending downwardly through the exhaust port and the upper part of the chamber admitting cooling fluid into the upper part of the chamber for downward flow therethrough, baiiie means directing the flow ble gases upwardly in the chamber in proximity to the cooling fluid, said means being formed to confine the upwardly flowing gases at a distance from the top of the chamber and adapted to re lease said gases into a relatively large space adjacent the top, thus retarding their flow to facilitate the chilling of said gases by contact with i the cooling fluid conduit and to effect precipitation of liquid previously entrained therein by contract with the cooling fluid.

5. In a counter-current condenser including a chamber with an inlet for vapor in the lower part and an exhaust port in the top, with a suction connection leading therefrom, baiiie means 20 veylng the fluid in counter-current relation to the gases exhausted through said port, together with this on the inlet pipe projecting into the exhaust passage and extending longitudinally therein to l of vapor and accompanying air and non-condensifacilitate the transfer of heat from the non-condensible gases to the cooling fluid for reducing the volume of said gases to a minimum as they leave the condenser.

6. In a counter-current condenser including an upright cylindrical chamber with an inlet for va- 'por in the lower part and an exhaust port in the top of said chamber, means for directing cooling fluid for downward flow through the chamber, baifle means directing the flow of vapor and accompanying air and non-condensible gas upwardly in the chamber in proximity to-the cooling fluid, said means being formed to confine the upwardly flowing gases at a distance from the top of the chamber and adapted to release said gases into a relatively large space adjacent the top, and cooling means disposed in said space, whereby the flow of gases through the large space is retarded and said gases are chilled by contact with the cooling means for eflecting precipitation 20 of liquid previously entrained therein by contact with the cooling fluid. l

ARNOLD W. BAUMANN. 

